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Can You Run a Call Center with a Cloud PBX?

A call center is a central piece of any business’s key goals and metrics. Inbound call centers focused on customer service are essential to maintaining high customer satisfaction levels. Outbound call centers focused on sales are key to increased sales and higher revenue.

No matter which type of call center you’re running, your communications system must be able to support, track, and enable meaningful agent-customer interactions. So, can you run a call center that supports your key business initiatives with a cloud PBX?

Running a Call Center: Cloud PBX or Call Center Software?

Technically, the answer is yes. Most cloud PBX platforms enable businesses to make and receive calls, configure call forwarding rules, and even leverage built-in IVR technology. But, you need more than what most cloud PBX systems (or traditional, on-premise PBX systems) offer to position your call center for success. This is because PBXs lack key features like advanced call routing, custom reporting, live call monitoring, and more.

Listen to Calls in Real Time

Live call monitoring enables call center managers to listen to calls in progress. It provides instant insights into what your agents are saying to customers.

Paired with call whisper, live call monitoring is also an excellent training tool. Call whisper allows call center managers to coach agents during live calls. Only the agent can hear what the manager is saying.

Use Real Time and Historical Reports to Monitor and Measure Performance

Advanced real time and historical reporting is one of the most important features for call center managers who want to run a call center that supports key business objectives. Smart Queue, for example, has over 150 pre-loaded reports that provide insights on call center metrics ranging from average hold time to average call handling time by agent.

Historical call center reports are especially valuable when it comes to benchmarking call center performance. With historical data, you can determine where your call center needs to improve, and then set goals based on your existing benchmarks.

Decrease Average Wait Time with Queue Callback

Your customers’ time is valuable. And when all of your agents are unavailable, that valuable time is wasted on hold waiting for an agent. By the time an agent does become available, chances are that your customers are already feeling frustrated – making it difficult to create positive agent-customer interactions.

Queue callback, a feature available with virtual call center software solutions, allows customers to hang up the phone and receive a call back when the next agent becomes available – without losing their place in the queue. This helps boost customer satisfaction levels, and it ensures that calls are distributed evenly to your agents.

Create Advanced Call Distribution Rules

Advanced call distribution (or advanced call routing) enables your business to distribute calls according to caller geography, time of day, and even by the percentage of agents you have in each call center location. These rules ensure that your callers are routed to the right agent or location at the right time. This in turn minimizes the number of transfers required to get your callers to the right department.

Advanced call distribution allows you to run a call center efficiently, and ensure that customer satisfaction levels remain high.

Call Center Software Offers Features You Need to Run a Call Center

Although many businesses think they can run a call center with cloud PBX technology, the fact remains that most phone system platforms lack key features needed to achieve call center objectives. Features like live call monitoring, queue callback, and advanced call distribution enable your call center to meet and exceed strategic business initiatives and operate efficiently.

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